


Don't Ever Wear Artistic Jewelry; It Wrecks a Woman's Reputation

by Elf (Elfwreck)



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Betan Culture, Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, College, Coming Out, Community: purimgifts, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22984858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfwreck/pseuds/Elf
Summary: In which Helen accidentally lays the groundwork for the feminist revolution on South Continent.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 78
Collections: Purimgifts 2020





	Don't Ever Wear Artistic Jewelry; It Wrecks a Woman's Reputation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rubynye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubynye/gifts).



> Beta'd by sprocket, who identified several areas where I was trying to tell three stories at once. Any remaining ambiguities or mistakes are my own.

Helen's second year of college included a three-month visit to South Continent to learn terraforming and rural district management skills. Miles had been worried--his family was often a bit too galactic for the less-metropolitan areas of Barrayar--but her com link calls seemed happy, and Miles took the lack of frantic calls from the school authorities as a sign that she wasn't getting up to troublesome shenanigans.

He assumed that if she started agitating for something like a Cetagandan exchange student program--which she'd suggested in her preteen years--someone would contact him. Miles saw no trace of Cetagandan culture or citizenry on his trip to pick her up. That was an entirely cheerful thought, until he met her roommate, and he remembered that Helen spent last summer on Beta.

Roic started carrying her bags to the lightflyer while Helen hugged her friend goodbye. They exchanged contact details, promised to call each other, and only then did Helen think to introduce him.

"Oh! Trina, this is my father, Lord Auditor Miles Vorkosigan. Father, my roommate Trina Vordanson."

Trina immediately stiffened in the way of Vor being introduced to a stranger of much higher station. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, my Lord Auditor," she murmured, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you; it's nice to meet you as well. Helen's told us--" Miles froze as he saw her golden jewelry when she stood up. 

"Is there a problem?" She looked quickly to Helen, and then back to Miles. "Have I done something wrong or inappropriate, Lord Auditor?"

"No, no, of course not! Ah… have you ever been off-world, Miss Vordanson?" 

She giggled at that. "Trina, please, Lord Auditor. And no. My family is not so… well-traveled as that. We have timber farms, here on South Continent." The implication was that they were both poor and conservative, and had no interest in leaving Barrayar or its traditional ways. 

Miles glanced at Helen, who looked nervous. He nodded briefly at her, and then looked back to Trina. "I was just startled to be greeted so formally by someone who's been living with my daughter for several months." 

"Oh! But you're…" 

"Well, yes, but surely you don't think I am called _Lord Auditor Vorkosigan_ when I am with my family? Please, call me Miles."

"Really?" she squeaked.

He smiled at her. "Really. I don't hold to formalities with family members or their friends."

  
  


Trina looked like she was overwhelmed with this exotic freedom, so Miles gestured to Helen that they could leave now. Helen gave her a final hug, and she and Miles walked through the common room so Helen could say her goodbyes to the other young women, most of whom were here to learn estate management for their future husbands rather than any trade of their own.

As soon as they'd gotten away from the crowd, Miles turned to his daughter. "Care to tell me why half the women in your dorm seem to be lesbians looking for one-night stands?"

Helen winced, and said, "It was a mistake?"

"Of course it was a mistake. Obviously they have no idea they're wearing Betan earrings, much less what those designs mean."

"I… went to Beta last summer… and I… wanted some fun?"

Miles closed his eyes briefly. This was obviously not how Helen had intended to come out to him. "Okay, setting aside what kind of 'fun' you wanted to find--you may want to talk with your grandmother, and also please _never tell me_ the details--how did that result in Betan earrings becoming the new trend on South Continent?" 

"I forgot to leave my earrings at Vorkosigan House, and Trina saw them on my counter and thought they were beautiful, so she made herself a copy. She wore them to a concert, and then Marlena saw them and wanted a pair, and Trudy can't tolerate Marlena having anything she doesn't, so… next thing I knew, everyone was wearing them." 

Miles sighed. "You know I have to tell someone, right?"

"No! You can't!"

"I can, and more, I must. Can you imagine the problems if one of their parents recognizes Betan jewelry and decides to confront her?" 

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh.' So they really need to stop wearing those earrings without knowing what they are."

"Is there… can we do that without telling them?" Helen looked worried.

Miles gave her a look that said _this is_ your _problem_. "Maybe you can tell your friends that they're out of fashion?"

Helen shook her head. "I tried that. They said it didn't matter because they're always behind the times out here." 

"You may have to at least hint at the truth, then. That they're a galactic style that might indicate, hm, a lack of interest in marriage." 

"They know I was wearing them," Helen said miserably. 

"You can say you wore them to show you weren't interested in marriage while you traveled."

She brightened. "I can do that. Ooh, I suppose I should run back and tell Trina. And the others."

"You do that," he said drily, "before one of them gets spotted by, oh, _anyone at all_ who's been to Beta. Or anyone in ImpSec." 

Her eyes widened as she realized how _many_ people would recognize those earrings--not just galactic travelers, but possibly anyone who'd met her grandmother. She gulped, and ran back inside. 

Miles waited while Roic loaded the lightflyer with the last of her bags. 

"Problem, m'Lord?" he asked.

"Small one. She's fixing it. Little matter of vanity temporarily overriding common sense." 

"Vanity? Helen? Doesn't seem the type." 

"Oh, not that she was seeking glory. But she'd gotten a measure of popularity from secrets, and now she has to disarm the secrets before they explode."

"Hrm. Exploding secrets. Seems like she's carrying on the family traditions."

Miles grinned. "I suppose she is."


End file.
